Sunday, 19 June 2016

#30Days Wild day 19: Exploring a jungle

For day 19 of 30 Days Wild we were explorers in an undiscovered jungle full of bizarre creatures and exotic flowers.

Fragrant orchids

Be beat a path through the undergrowth, looking out for reptiles lurking around every corner.

Slow-worm

Scorpions and bizarre giant insects stalked us as we made our way through the lush vegetation.

Scorpion fly

Crane fly

Huge snails the size of your hand inhabited the damp, shady corners of the jungle...

Roman snails

... and flourescent orange fungi poked their way out of the earth.

Persistent waxcap

Persistent waxcap

We pushed on further into uncharted territory and found shiny insects crawling through flowers and basking on leaves.

Bee and a flower beetle

Yellow-barred long-horn moth

We came across flowers up to trickery, disguising themselves as insects...

Bee orchid

Greater butterfly orchid

... and super strong ants hauled their larvae to safety when disturbed.

Huge purple pyramids burst out of the ground all around us ...

Pyramidal orchid

... and tropical butterflies flitted through the dappled shade.

Speckled wood

We'd discovered a tropical paradise hidden away just off the B4009. OK, so we were actually at Aston Clinton Ragpits, but for a while there we were adventurers in a crazy orchid filled jungle, recording strange species and making new discoveries!